You are here:

EYE MOVEMENTS OF THE OWL

The tubular shape and tightly encapsulating orbit of the owl's eye would seem to make horizontal and vertical eye rotations impossible. The amazing flexibility of the neck, allowing the head to rotate 270o on the torso, would seem to make eye movements unnecessary. These two characteristics have led to the claim that the owl eye is immobile. The report indicates the presence of small eye movements in awake, unanesthetized owls, occurring both spontaneously and elicited by visual and vestibular stimuli.